sea firefly

plural sea fireflies

1. Vargula hilgendorfii, a small bioluminescent ostracod found in the waters off Japan.

   […] sea fireflies. In some cases, the strings of light that sea fireflies (bioluminescent ostracods) produce rise up off the bottom. In other cases, they may be horizontal or diagonal, like drifting strands of glowing pearls.

   2021, Edith Widder, Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and ..., page 211

   1 more example

   […] how nocturnal sea fireflies (Cypridina) eject luminous blue light in the sands off the coast of Japan. Their emission of light—or “bioluminescence”—does not burn them from within like a bulb's heat. It is a “cold light,” the energy from a chemical […]

   2022, Kristy Hamilton, Nature's Wild Ideas: How the Natural World is Inspiring ...